US women worry about Trump threats against Planned Parenthood

When President Donald Trump took office last month heading one of the most vocally anti-abortion administrations in modern US history, it was clear that one of his first targets would be Planned Parenthood.

US women worry about Trump threats against Planned Parenthood

Arizona: When President Donald Trump took office last month heading one of the most vocally anti-abortion administrations in modern US history, it was clear that one of his first targets would be Planned Parenthood.

He has promised to end federal funding for the non-profit health care group with some 650 centers across the United States offering abortions and other health services -- a longtime goal of Republican politicians even though Planned Parenthood says only around three percent of the services it provides are abortion-related.

Shelby Weathers voices a common response to the threat.

"As a woman, I feel almost attacked," the 18-year-old student says at one of the group`s centers in Phoenix, Arizona, where she has access to contraception.
"It`s really discouraging to hear people are trying to take away access to health care."

In a clear sign of the administration`s position, Vice President Mike Pence recently headlined an anti-abortion march in Washington, where he told the gathering that Trump`s election in November proved that "life is winning in America."

Trump himself told the marchers in a tweet that they had his "full support."Samaria has just undergone an abortion at the Phoenix clinic. A single mother of two who opposed abortions for many years, she says she is in an unstable relationship and wasn`t ready for a third child.

"I felt so depressed," she said with tears in her eyes. "You have to say goodbye to someone you don`t even know."

Deanna Wambach -- the head doctor for Planned Parenthood in Arizona -- wears green hospital scrubs as she prepares to examine a patient in a room equipped with a gynecological examination chair and a model representing the female reproductive system.

She`s worried. If the new administration goes through with its promise to defund Planned Parenthood, many of the patients the group serves -- typically low- to middle-income Americans -- will no longer have access to health services.
The group, which serves some 2.5 million men and women a year, relies on federal funding for more than 40 percent of its operating budget.

"That would be devastating for women," she says. "In Arizona alone, we serve over 33,000 women."

Zee News App: Read latest news of India and world, bollywood news, business updates, cricket scores, etc. Download the Zee news app now to keep up with daily breaking news and live news event coverage.